title: Anaplasma phagocytophilum groEL gene heterogeneity in Ixodes ricinus larvae feeding on roe deer in Northeastern Italy.
abstract: Anaplasma phagocytophilum is an emerging tick-borne pathogen with both veterinary and human health implications. The role of wildlife hosts for this pathogen are not well defined, even thought roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) has been suggested to contribute to the occurrence of this tick-borne diseases in Europe. Therefore the aim of the present study was to investigate the potential role of this ungulate species as a reservoir of human pathogenic strains of A. phagocytophilum in a tick-borne diseases endemic area in Northeastern Italy. Ixodes ricinus feeding on roe deer were collected and analyzed for the presence for A. phagocytophilum by a molecular approach targeting 16S rRNA and groEL genes. The mean prevalence of A. phagocytophilum recorded was 5.11%, highlighting the ability of roe deer to infect the I. ricinus larval stage. The results of further genetic characterization of the strains of A. phagocytophilum herein isolated, based on phylogenetic information contained in groEL gene sequences, showed substantial heterogeneity among sequences analyzed. Nevertheless, these findings suggest that the roe deer population of the Trentino region of Italy harbors strains of A. phagocytophilum of unknown pathogenicity for humans.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Alpine Ecology, Edmund Mach Foundation, Trento, Italy. carpi@cealp.it
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Carpi
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bertolotti
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pecchioli
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cagnacci
authors.forename: Annapaola
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rizzoli
mesh_terms: D041081:Anaplasma phagocytophilum / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D000818:Animals; D001096:Arachnid Vectors / Q000382:microbiology*; D018834:Chaperonin 60 / Q000235:genetics; D030561:Databases, Nucleic Acid; D003670:Deer / Q000382:microbiology / Q000469:parasitology; D004197:Disease Reservoirs / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary; D016873:Ehrlichiosis / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary; D007558:Italy; D018884:Ixodes / Q000382:microbiology*; D007814:Larva / Q000382:microbiology; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D015995:Prevalence
chemical_list: D018834:Chaperonin 60